The Paleozoic petroleum geology of central Arabia

Conference · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991 · Geobyte; (United States)

OSTI ID:5741494

McGillivray, J G; Husseini, M I ^[1]

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1. Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Dhahran (Saudi Arabia)

Recent exploratory drilling in central Saudi Arabia indicates that all the geological elements of a major petroleum basin are present in this province. Several Paleozoic siliciclastic sequences which were deposited along the stable Arabian margin of Gondwanaland constitute excellent reservoirs. The identified reservoir targets include the Cambrian-Ordovician Saq Formation, Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian glaciogenic clastics of the Sarah and Zarqa formations, and both fluvial and shallow marine sandstones of the Permian-Carboniferous Unayzah Formation. The source rock is a widespread organic-rich shale which was deposited during the regional deglaciation in the earliest Silurian. Migration occurred vertically along faults and/or updip from the regional Qusaiba shale subcrop through the reservoirs. Interbedded upper Permian shales and evaporites form the basal sequence of a major carbonate transgression and provide a capping seal. The traps are broad, low-relief, fault-generated structures which developed primarily during the Triassic.

• OSTI ID: 5741494
• Report Number(s): CONF-910978--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geobyte; (United States) Journal Volume: 75:8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ASIA
CAMBRIAN PERIOD
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
GEOLOGY
MIDDLE EAST
MINERAL RESOURCES
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
PALEOZOIC ERA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
RESOURCES
SAUDI ARABIA
SILURIAN PERIOD
SOURCE ROCKS